11 March 2010

Lenny Kravitz Cast as Andrew Young in Lee Daniels "Selma"

Lenny Kravitz had a small role in the Oscar-winning "Precious". Now there is word that out filmmaker Lee Daniels has cast the stylish rocker in his next film "Selma", his biopic about the historic 1965
civil rights march. No small role this time, Kravitz tells MTV News.

"The next role is Andrew Young in a film called 'Selma,' directed by
Lee Daniels," Kravitz said. Young was a significant figure in the Civil
Rights movement, someone who worked very closely Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. And while the story details for "Selma" aren't really out there yet,
Young did aid King Jr. in planning a Civil Rights Campaign in
Selma, Alabama. Young was also jailed in that same city for
participating in a demonstration there.Kravitz acknowledges that this is going to be a significant step up,
moving from his "Precious" nurse to Young, a King Jr. collaborator who
was at times the Mayor of Atlanta, a Congressman and the United States
ambassador to the United Nations. Kravitz is aware of all of this. As he
said, "I gotta bring it."

Yep, Kravitz will have to bring it. Andrew Young was one of King's top lieutenants, it's likely Kravitz would get significant screen time.

Robert De Niro is on board as the infamous Alabama Governor George Wallace. Hugh Jackman has also been cast, reportedly as a sheriff. This should be interesting, to say the least.

Comments

LOL....sooooooo truthful. I love me some Lenny Kravitz and he's an amazing artist, beautiful person and SEXY AS SATURDAY AFTERNOON BY THE LAKE, but I think you are so right. Lenny will be a great actor one day and I know that Lee wants to work with him but I don't see him as Andrew Young!

I hope that they both prove us so wrong, because I want Lenny to be amazing.

I think I want to see him contemporary and sexy and in a biopic, I don't know. But Lee Daniels is proving to be a seriously astute director, so do the dang thang!!!

Andrew Young is short (5'5) while Lenny is tall (5'11)...I like Lenny but this casting is not right...Lee Daniels is something else..we know what is on his mind...keeping with this casting scenario, I guess MLK will be Brian White (fron This Christmas) or Columbus Short (From Stomp the Yard)...smh.

...I guess MLK will be Brian White (fron This Christmas) or Columbus Short (From Stomp the Yard)...

Hmm, probably not. That casting wouldn't be "edgy" enough for Lee. Lee likes his men white or high yella. I am sure there is a role for Stephen Dorff in this film, didnt Lee publicly drool over Stephen's pink peen in his last film Shadowboxer?

Daniels was able to pull academy award performances out of a comic and an unknown non-actor (her first performance). I will wait to see what he will do next. If the actor trusts the director, there could be performances one never dreamed of before created.

Lenny is about the same complexion as Young and height doesn't matter in the movies. You can always adjust for that by having a tall cast or certain actors taller than others to create height. That's simple magic.

Daniels knows his butt is on the line now and he is pulling heavyweights likes DeNiro and others. I will always back him 100%. I'm sure this will have an edge to it. He doesn't seem to go for just traditional historical dramas, but he just might to show a range of styles he can work in.

I LOVE Lee Daniels....and I love Patrick Ian Polk, and Stephen Winter, and Quincy Lenear, and Deondray Gossett, and Maurice Jamal, and Bill Duke, and Julie Dash, and John Singleton, and Forrest Whitaker, and Rodney(Brother to Brother)...Evans, and Spike Lee, Poitier and Belafonte and Ossie. And the father of all of 'em: Oscar Micheaux (sorry, I know I don't have his name spelled correctly)

Oh, my God! How could I forget Marlon Riggs (a different genre of film making, but nevertheless, a ground breaker).

Also, I think Bill Cosby and Debbie Allen opened some directing doors also. Well, I'm grateful to all of 'em. But I do want Spike Lee to win an Oscar...he gave a strong push to so many black actors' careers...of course, maybe he couldn't care less at this point--I doubt it. Everybody who makes movies wants an Oscar...eventually.